Gears of War 2
Gears of War 2 is a tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed best-seller Gears of War, and was announced by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski during the 2008 Game Developers Conference on February 20, 2008. It was released on November 7th of 2008 and uses an updated version of the Unreal Engine 3.http://www.gametrailers.com/player/30824.html. Its slogan is "Hope Runs Deep." Also, a Gears of War 2 Zune is confirmed, having 120GB of memory, a laser-etched Crimson Omen, and is already filled with soundtracks, images, videos, etc. E3 2008 Trailer OBegies-IVg Gameplay The technical demo shown at the Game Developers Conference indicated that much of the core gameplay elements that were central to Gears of War (a third-person, "run and gun" style game that emphasizes the use of cover) would be present in the sequel. John DiMaggio, the voice actor of Marcus Fenix, confirmed to IGN that players would be able to fight Brumaks in Gears of War 2. He also revealed there will be a deeper story with new characters, new weapons, and new enemies.http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/855/855853p1.html The game will also include the ability for a player to duel with an AI or human opponent when both use the Chainsaw Bayonet attachment of the Lancer, as seen in the 2008 Game Developer's Conference promotional video, later confirmed in informal interviews with developers. . In Gears 2 the poor chap that is downed isn't as helpless as he was before. Now you can crawl around as a last desperate attempt for life. Rapidly tapping the A Button will help you crawl faster, but if you have a Grenade equipped when you're downed, you can press the right trigger to drop the grenade, and commit martyrdom. The grenade will still have a timer when you drop it, so it'll take a little more skill than just simply pressing the right trigger. Also, you cannot drop a grenade once the opponent has started an execution. In an interview with EGM in that same July issue, Cliffy said that Gears 2 is running roughly 30 percent better, in terms of performance than the first game. He also went on to say that, while the team did consider it, dedicated servers will not be allowed in Gears 2. Other little developer quips mentioned consider implementing a live-scoring icon on the screen that will show players how much damage they're causing as well as their score. A.I. bots were apparently also hinted at. You'll no longer be booted from a game if the host jumps out; you'll simply all vote on a new map to play. Other little additions include the ability to "wall hug" and interrupting SWAT turns mid-move. Lancer Assault Rifle A Button -- Causes you to grab the downed opponent and use them as a meat shield. They'll be dead as far as the game is concerned but their body will still be in your hands, getting blown to bits with enemy fire, shieing you from it until their body is completely destroyed and unusable. While holding the corpse, you can only use your pistol. The B Button -- This is your standard melee attack but in Gears 2, you will lift your Lancer Assault Rifle in the air, and you will use your saw to go through the enemy's shoulders or neck. Each B button execution is weapon specific, although most are similar, your character generally lifts his weapon and brings it down on your downed opponent's back, although if you're carrying a Gnasher Shotgun, then you'l spin the gun, holding it by the barrel and swing it like a golf club popping your enemys head. The X Button -- The classic, and oh-so-juicy curb stomp. In Gears 2 you flip them onto their back first, then you brutally slam your foot down on their face, shattering and squishing it. The Y Button -- The fancy finishes are governed by the Y button. Although be warned, you are vulnerable during these executions, so choose wisely when you want to use them. These executions are weapon specific, as far as i know, the only weapons that have these special executions, the first being the Longshot Sniper Rifle, when your opponent is downed, your character swings the Longshot round now holding it by the barrel, swings it over his head, and brings it down on your opponents back. The second being the Torque Bow, your character hooks the bow around your opponents neck, and then kicks his body decapitating him. The third is the Boltok Pistol, your character spins the Boltok in his hand so he's holding it by the barrel, then harshly smashes the butt of the gun down on his head, and does a fancy spin and re-holsters it. Another one is the Boom Shield where your character grabs the shield with two hands, and brings the shield crashing down on them. Last Day Promotion Before the release of Gears of War 2, Epic studios release the Last Day site and invite fans to find hidden COG tags around the world and use the codes to unlock the tabs in the Last Day site. Plot The game begins with the Locust Queen providing the player with a brief summary of what has happened in the Locust-Human War over the last fifteen years, explaing how the war truly began, the Pendulum Wars, the Locust's survival of the Lightmass Bomb in Gears of War, and how Jacinto is now the last safe refuge for humanity. The story then moves into the present where Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago and Anya Stroud have gathered at a hospital in Jacinto. Private Benjamin Carmine, brother of Anthony Carmine from Gears of War, arrives and becomes the rookie in Delta Squad. After a brief training session (or the player can choose to skip this), Locust forces are spotted attacking the hospital. During this brief assault, the player is introduced to Tai Kaliso, a spiritual warrior that fought with Marcus Fenix in the Pendulum Wars. Together, Marcus, Dom, Tai and eventually Ben Carmine force back to Locust forces outside the hospital. Anya then speaks with Dom about a lead she possibly had on his missing wife, Maria. Unfortunately, the lead was wrong, upsetting Dom and results with his smashing a window open in a car. After the assault on the hospital, Chairman Richard Prescott rallies Gears, telling them of how the Locust Horde has survived the Lightmass Bomb from the end of Gears of War and have returned stronger than ever, bringing with them a force that can sink entire cities. Soon, humanity will have nothing left to defend, leaving them their last option; an all-out attack on the Locust Horde in the Hollow. To do this, C.O.G forces are to escort massive trucks called Derricks towards the Locust occupied town of Landown and use grindlifts to barrel down into the Hollow and fight back against the Locust. During the arrival at the Derricks, the player is introduced to Dizzy Wallin, a conscript who drives rig 314 also known as "Betty". On the way to Landown, Locust forces attempt to destroy the Derricks, only managing to destroy a small amount of them. Once in Landown, the Derricks make their way to the cementary in Landown and deploy the Gears underground. Unfortunately, in the process of sending the grindlifts down, Locust forces attack once more led by Skorge, leader of the Kantus monks. Dizzy Wallin and Tai Kaliso hold Skorge off to prevent him from stopping the Gears from heading underground. This will be the last time to player will see Dizzy for the entire campaign. Once underground, Marcus and Dom regroup with Ben Carmine and move through the Hollow, supporting other squads under attack from Locust forces. As they journey deeper into the Hollow, Delta Squad discovers the source to what is sinking entire cities; the Riftworm. Commanded by Skorge, the Riftworm sinks the entire city of Ilima before Delta Squad's eyes, creating a massive sinkhole. The Locust are using the Riftworm to sink cities around Jacinto, punching holes around humanity's haven and causing it to eventually sink. Delta Squad quickly makes their way through the sinkhole, battling through invading Locust soldiers and eventually regrouping with Augustus Cole Train, another member from Delta Squad. Leaving the Ilima sinkhole, Delta Squad moves back into the tunnels of the Hollow, where they learn of new Locust tactics thanks to Damon Baird who has now regrouped with them as well. The Locust are apparently capturing humans and torturing them. Baird leads Delta to a Beast Barge where the Locust take their prisoners to torture them. On the Beast Barge, Delta Squad finds Tai Kaliso who has been severely scarred and broken emotionally. Marcus gives Tai his shotgun to defend himself with, but Tai instead uses it to commit suicide, overwhelmed by the torture the Locust put him through. Horrified, Marcus takes Tai's COG Tags and heads back to the Ilima sinkhole with his squad. Once back in the sinkhole, the squad is picked up by a King Raven which arrives too late and Delta Squad is sucked into the Riftworm who has suddenly returned to the sinkhole. Inside the Riftworm, Delta Squad suffers the loss of Benjamin Carmine after being burned by acid and eaten alive by Nemacytes, creatures that live inside the Riftowrm. Carmine asks Marcus to tell his family he loves them and has Marcus send a letter to his brother, Clay, that he had written recently. Marcus then decides to kill the Riftworm before it can do more damage to humanity. Delta Squad makes its way through the Riftworm, cutting open the worm's arteries to its three hearts. This ultimately kills the Riftworm and allows Delta Squad to escape the massive creature by chainsawing through its flesh, emerging in a pool of blood. Delta Squad is then tasked with heading to the New Hope Research Facility which apparently holds information on the location of the actual Locust stronghold called Nexus and the location of the Locust Queen. In the abandoned facility, Marcus and Dom learn that the facility had kept test subjects that they called Sires, which were mutated creatures resembling a human and a Locust mixed together. Marcus and Dom are forced to escape once they learned the location of the Locust stronghold and the queen and head off towards Mount Kadar where there is back entrance to the Locust stronghold. After battling up Mount Kadar with a Centaur Tank, Delta Squad runs into a group of Stranded led by Chaps, the owner of the gas station from Gears of War. The Stranded had begun moving underground after their outposts were overrun by Locust forces. Marcus has Cole and Baird escort the stranded back to the surface to be picked up by Ravens. Before leaving, Dom asks Chaps if he had ever seen Maria before. Chaps believes Maria was in a group that was captured by the Locust. Marcus and Dom make their way towards Nexus, the Locust capital, by crossing a massive lake. During the crossing, they are attacked by Locust gunboats and a massive fish called the Leviathan, which is killed when Marcus and Dom hurl grenades into its mouth and blow it up from the inside. Once at Nexus, Dom convinces Marcus to help him search for Maria in the labor camps nearby. After a small search and evading Locust patrols, the companions locate Maria, only to find her beaten, scarred, and unable to stand or speak from endless torture from the Locust forces. Dom, not believing what has happened to her and extremely saddened, decides to euthanize her to put her out of her misery. He kills her saying "I love you. I love you so much". As they journey more through Nexus, Marcus and Dom activate a beacon using Jack, signalling an accurate position for C.O.G forces to drill down in grindlifts and assault Nexus. Reunited with Cole and Baird, Delta Squad learns that the Locust are engaged in a civil war between regular Locust and Locust called the Lambent, Locust who have been infected from exposure to imulsion. The Lambent are attempting to take over Nexus and overthrow the Locust Queen, who plans to flood the Hollow after the Locust forces evacuate and genocide the remaining Lambent in the Hollow. In order to flood the Hollow, however, they must sink Jacinto, flooding the Hollow with the surrounding seawater. Delta Squad discovers these plans when Jack hacks into a Locust terminal and reveals several recordings from Adam Fenix, Marcus' father, explaining if they sink Jacinto, it would flood the Hollow with seawater, leaving no survivors. Delta Squad then confronts the Locust Queen. The Queen explains that in order to prevent the Humans from flooding the Hollow before the Locust escape, she has sent an army of Locust to assault Jacinto, distracting the C.O.G army. The Queen then escapes, leaving Delta Squad to battle Skorge in a chainsaw duel. Skorge too escapes on his Hydra after being overwhelmed by Marcus. In order to reach Jacinto faster, Delta Squad hijacks two Reavers to carry two members of Delta Squad on each and fly to Jacinto. In their journey back to the city, they are persued by Locust driven Reavers and eventually by Skorge and his Hydra. Delta Squad manages to defeat both, however, causing Skorge to fall from his Hydra onto the ground below and destroying his Hydra. It is uncertain whether Skorge is knocked out from his fall or actually died on impact. Once at Jacinto, Delta Squad briefly helps defend C.O.G headquarters from Locust forces and then is tasked with a new mission. The plan is to sink Jacinto using a Lightmass Bomb, ultimately flooding the Hollow. However, Seeder and Nemacyst infestation are a factor to the King Ravens that will bring the Lightmass Bomb to the position in the Hollow to set it off. Plus, an opening must be made in order for the Ravens to get underground. Marcus and Dom head off to carry out the operation while Baird and Cole stay back to help assist with the Lightmass Bomb. In the Jacinto sinkhole, Marcus and Dom manage to hijack a Brumak to speed up the operation. With the Brumak, Marcus and Dom blast through hundreds of Locust forces including Reavers, Seeders, Nemacysts, and a Corpser. Once the area is cleared of Locust forces and an opening is made, the King Ravens move in to deploy the Lightmass Bomb. The Brumak then suddenly begins to mutate due to imulsion exposure and knocks the King Raven carrying the Lightmass Bomb into the imulsion, ruining the plan. Realizing the Brumak is going lambent, Marcus uses the Hammer of Dawn to make the Brumak explode, causing an explosion powerful enough to sink Jacinto and flood the Hollow, killing the Locust Horde and the Lambent. As the C.O.G army moves away from Jacinto and watches it sink underground, Marcus attempts to contact Anya, growing distressed with the lack of response. Dom, solemnly holding his photo of Maria, comforts him, and the two soon see Cole, Prescott, Colonel Hoffman and Anya on a nearby Raven. The Locust Queen can be heard giving a final narration. "Your world can end in the blink of an eye. One event, one unexpected twist of fate and suddenly the world as you knew it... is gone forever. All that you held dear, all that you held close... is washed away into the sea of distant memory. Life... is cruel. Of this, I have no doubt. But life continues on... with, or without you. One can only hope that one leaves behind a lasting legacy. But so often, the legacies that we leave behind... are not the ones that we intended." Following the credits comes a faint transimission from Adam Fenix saying "This is Adam Fenix... Is anyone out there...? Can you hear me...? This is Adam Fenix... Can you hear me...? What have you done...?" suggesting the flooding of the Hollow may have created a greater threat for humanity. Multiplayer Features/Abilities Battle-Cam: The Battle-Cam allows players who have slipped into the after-life (been killed) to take a screenshot with the B-button of the most frenetic action that they can find. Do that, and the game will register all of the blood and executions -- everything including the amount of particle effects on-screen -- and spit out a score which is then uploaded, along with your screenshot, to the leaderboards for the world to see. We told you it was cool.Executions New Maps New maps included in Gears of War 2 include the following. *Avalanche *Security *River *Blood Drive *Pavilion *Stasis *Hail *Ruins *Day One In addition to the default maps, 5 maps from the original Gears of War are available for download as the Flashback Map Pack, it includes the following. *Canals *Gridlock *Mansion *Subway *Tyro Station In addition to the default maps, and Flashback map pack, a new Combustible Map pack was announced at the 2008 Video Game Awards set for release 12/15/08, it includes the following. *Flood *Gold Rush *Fuel Station The maps are available for 800 microsoft points for the moment (most likely will be free or reduced over time like the previous game) Game Modes Horde A new gameplay mode has been added to add more offline gameplay (athough it can also be played online). It can also be played online with up to five players as you take on wave after wave of the locust horde. There are 50 waves of horde, each increasing in difficulty, for example, the first wave will start with very few locust to kill, around 9 which are likely to be a few wretches and drones. Although as you progress through the waves, the larger enemies appear and there are more of them, there will be many more boomers, grinders, bloodmounts, maulers, butchers, kantus, flame grenadiers and so on. This game type is incredibly difficult, even on the casual the last 10 waves are quite challenging. There is a 30 point achievement for completing all waves on any difficulty. Meatflag/Submission This is a variant on classic Capture-the-Flag but instead of having an inanimate object sitting in the center of a stage waiting to be captured, Gears 2 will have a mean, gun-firing, AI-controlled Stranded sitting there waiting to do battle (he'll even tally his own score to be seen by all at the end of a round). Do enough damage to take him down to his knees and then run up, use him as a meat shield and haul his carcass back to your base to score the point for your team. Just remember, there's nothing more humiliating than getting killed by the flag Wingman Here the ten possible players (up from the original game's eight) are broken up into sets of 2. Each pair will share the same character model, and you'll have to hunt throughout the map to kill as much of the opposition as possible before landing at a final kill count. Like free-for-all, but with a partner to work with. Guardian One man on your team is the leader, the rest are his hapless peons. Okay, not really. But one player is the leader and if he dies, then the ability to respawn is taken from his teammates, turning their current life into their last. The leader is called out on the opponent's screen at all times, making the hunt that much easier. First team to wipe out the other wins. To prevent the players from tricking the other team into thinking they're the leader, players can't choose Hoffman or Skorge. Warzone The standard Team Deathmatch mode of GoW2. Warzone is a battle between two teams for a set amount of points at the end of each match, by eliminating the opposing team each round. A point is awarded to the surviving team after the round. Players can be downed and killed from any distance with any weapon. Execution Similar to Warzone in that the teams compete for the most amount of points by eliminating the other team in each round. The only difference is that players can only be killed by one shot kills such as torque bow, frag grenades, boomshot, or headshots, or by being downed and executed at close range, either by bullets, melee, or an execution attack. Characters Returning characters will include Marcus Fenix,Dominic Santiago, and others from the first game, as well as Cole and Baird. Lead designer Cliff Bleszinski has also confirmed that the character Carmine will be returning, it was revealed that instead of the original Carmine appearing, his brother Benjamin Carmine will have a large role in the game. The game will also introduce several new characters; among these are Chairman Prescott, the near dictatorial military leader of COG, Tai Kaliso, "a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor bound fighters," and Dizzy, a former Stranded who joined the COG in order to keep his family safe, and Benjamin Carmine, the brother of Anthony Carmine. Dominic's wife Maria will also make an appearance, and Dominic's search for her will play an important part in the story. List of Locust characters in Gears of War 2 * Bloodmount * Boomers * Butchers * Grinders * Maulers * Brumaks * Corpsers * Drones * Grenadiers * Kantus * Lambent * Nemacysts * Reavers * Rock Worms * Snipers * Theron Guards * Theron Sentinels * Ticker * Wretches * Skorge *Rift Worm *Cyclops *Seeders *Beast Barge *Nemacyte *RAAM (multiplayer only and mentioned) COG Arsenal * Smoke Grenade -- These are now home to a concussion blast that will knock a shield out of someone's hand while disabling their sight and overall equilibrium. Any of the grenade types in the game can also be stuck on walls and will act as proximity mines * Snub Pistol * Lancer Assault Rifle -- You've heard this before, this armament from the original now has a tie-breaker for chainsaw kills. Mashing the B-button as fast as you can could lead to three outcomes. First, you win and slice through your opponent. Second, you lose and meet the same fate. (Or third, there's an improbable tie and you both step back to go at it again) * Gnasher Shotgun * Frag Grenade * Mulcher * Mortar * Scorcher Flamethrower -- This will appear only once on a multiplayer map. It benefits from a longer range if you can hit the active reload perfectly and will glow red when it's ready to bring death to the masses. * Longshot Sniper Rifle * Hammer of Dawn Locust Armory * Boltok Pistol -- This sucker is back from Gears 1 and now has a quicker rate of fire after an active reload. * Gorgon Burst Pistol -- Faster rate of fire than other pistols and shoots in short bursts. * Boomshield -- This shield (which maulers seem to usually favor) can be chucked into the ground beneath you and used as stationary cover. Of course, you can also carry it around and use it in conjunction with a pistol. * Troika Heavy Machine Gun * Ink Grenade -- Spews a nasty dark green haze that brings down everyone in its path. * Torque Bow a strong bow which shoots forth Imulsion tipped arrows. * Boomshot Grenade Launcher * Hammerburst Assault Rifle -- This Locust rifle from the first Gears is back and can now fire with higher accuracy at longer ranges and does more damage. Players can also fire with a fan method (holding and releasing the right trigger) that will allow for a quicker rate of fire at the expense of accuracy. Development GDC Unreal Tech demo At the GDC (Game Developers Conference) 2008, Epic Games, creator of Gears of War and Gears of War 2 showcased a tech demo in which they demonstrated new features of the Unreal Engine in Gears of War. These new features included Ambient Occlusion Technology (that vastly improves the lighting effects in the game), Dynamic Water Effect Technology (that creates more life-like looking water both in the way it looks and in the way it reacts to movement), Improved "Matinee" System (that is used to create in game cinematics), Soft Body Physics Technology (which improves textures for different substances in the engine, in the demo a large piece of flesh was shown that reacted very realistically to the player) and destructible environments. One of the most marked features to be showcased was the introduction of High Density Crowds which saw literally hundreds of locusts running through the Gridlock map from the original Gears of War. The introduction of this technology could allow larger battles in Gears of War 2, as well as larger multiplayer games. Vehicles The only known vehicles to take place in this game are Derricks, the Centaur Tank and King Ravens. During the E3 trailer, it was hinted at that the player may be able to ride a Brumak and a reaver. This was found to be true during campaign gameplay. The player rides a reaver during the beginning of act 5, and a brumak at the end of act 5. The complete list of vehicles on the official site are: * Assault Derrick * Centaur Tank * King Raven Pre-release marketing XBL Marketplace content On February 20 2008, coinciding with the game's official announcement at the Game Developers Conference, free gamer pictures ("Crimson Picture Pack") and a dashboard theme ("Bare Your Teeth"), as well as a teaser trailer, titled "Duel" (not available in all regions), were made available via the Xbox Live Marketplace. msn.com partnered with experiencecommerce.com to released a Facebook application to practice the game. Limited Edition The Limited Edition copy of Gears of War 2 [ Retail Price around £50/$70 ] contains: - A copy Of The Game. - A Bonus Disk containing videos: 48 minute long making the game doc "Dual" trailer "Rendezvous" E3 trailer "Last day" Trailer Concept art audio walk through videos on: Marcus Dom Kantus Locust horde Heavy weapons unlockable gamerpics Limited edition C.O.G Gamerpics: Marcus Dom Baird Cole Hoffman Limited edition Locust Gamerpics: Mauler grinder Palace guard Flame grenadier Cyclopse and samples of music from the game. Main theme Enter the C.O.G (Into) Maria - A Keepsake photo of Dom and his wife Maria.(2.5/3) - A code for the Golden Lancer Assault Rifle, available only to people who have purchased the limited edition. - A Steelbook case. - A 48 Page hardback book containing artwork from gears of war 2 and a foreword by design director Cliff Bleszinski. See also * Gears of War 2 walkthrough * List of Achievements in Gears of War 2 External links *GearsofWar.com *[http://www.gametrailers.com/game/6236.html Gears of War 2 "Duel" trailer] at GameTrailers *Unreal Engine Tech Demo *Gears of War 2 Gameplay & Info *Gears of War 2 E3 Trailer *[http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=30551343883 Play Gears of War 2] at Facebook *Gears of War 2 Wordpress Themes Category:Games